The liver meant for Union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who died on Tuesday afternoon, was transplanted to a 42-year-old Goa-based businessman on Wednesday.

The liver meant for Union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who died on Tuesday afternoon, was transplanted to a 42-year-old Goa-based businessman on Wednesday.

Late on Tuesday night, a team of surgeons from Jupiter Hospital, Thane, began a nine-hour transplant surgery on the patient, who had been waiting for a suitable liver since April.

The liver was harvested from a 49-year-old patient at PD Hinduja Hospital, Mahim, who had a brain tumour. When the donor was certified brain dead on Tuesday morning, his liver was allotted to Deshmukh under the super-urgent category. But before the organ could be harvested, Deshmukh died of multi-organ failure followed by a cardiac arrest.

The liver was thereafter allotted to civic-run KEM Hospital, but the recipient there was not ready for the transplant procedure. Hence, it was given to Jupiter Hospital.

“The patient from Goa was on the top of the list. His condition had deteriorated in the past few months. He would have not survived for long without the transplant,” said Dr AS Soin, chief liver transplant surgeon, Jupiter Hospital.

“Deshmukh’s case has highlighted the dearth of cadaver donors in the country,” said Dr SK Mathur, liver transplant surgeon at Fortis Hospital.